


On the Ground

by Schupuff



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Fear of Heights, Gen, Hubert Week (Fire Emblem), No Beta, Stream of Consciousness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:41:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26831560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Schupuff/pseuds/Schupuff
Summary: Hubert thinks over his fear of heights.  Hubert Week day 1: Heights
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	On the Ground

There were only a few clouds in the sky above Garreg Mach monastery on a brisk Red Wolf Moon morning. Hubert could see his breath only slightly as he exhaled. He stood on the bridge about halfway to the cathedral in quiet contemplation. He rarely stepped further toward that monument than he had to. It often seemed forbidden to him. It was a place where he dared not to trod. For so many it was a house of worship, a sacred and holy place of prayer and peace but no, he saw its underside. It was lies. All of it. And he only wanted to get close to it if absolutely necessary, perhaps with a torch in hand to burn it to the ground. He smiled to himself. Maybe soon. 

It was strange then, that he often found himself on the bridge, but the reasons were simple, really. One, he liked to keep track of everyone deemed important. So many of his classmates were the pious sort and he did want to note any change in routine. Second, he could keep an eye on the flight path of those on sky patrol or simply honing their flying skills, be it on wyvern or pegasus back. And damn it all, there was some sense of calm to be found in the effortless, graceful flight of a pegasus. They were beautiful creatures. Powerful, graceful, and he’d always admired them from a safe distance. Animals, he’d realized, tended to not be fond of him, save for a few stray cats here and there.  _ It’s because they see you _ , he told himself one day.  _ They know what you are. They know the rage inside you. It would unsettle anyone, much less a horse with wings. It even unsettles you _ , he thought. And on top of that, he feared climbing on top of a pegasus and taking flight. It terrified him.

He loved pegasi, truly, even though he would never admit it. It was a childish question, “What’s your favorite animal?” and he could not recall a recent memory where he answered it honestly. He stuck to animals that seemed to fit the view of him that others had. Bats. Snakes. Things like that. If only they knew. If only they’d seen the little stuffed toy pegasus he used to carry with him when he was a small child. He’d never live it down. 

No, his fear wasn’t from the pegasi themselves, but a long held fear of heights. That it had ingrained itself so strongly and literally within him was something of an annoyance, especially as he towered over the rest of his classmates. Heaven forbid there was a book on a high shelf he needed that was only accessible by ladder. He frowned, remembering once having to ask Linhardt to climb up and retrieve one for him. “Seriously?” Linhardt had asked. “All the sneaky stuff you pull and you can’t climb a ladder? What in the world happened to you?” Hubert did not dignify the question with a response, though he knew exactly when it happened. He remembered it clearly.

He remembered Edelgard’s high pitched yelp, the resounding thud and her cry ringing through the courtyard. It wasn’t a tall tree that she’d fallen out of, and at the end of it, she’d only scraped her elbow, but the one thing that stuck with Hubert even now, the one thing that caused him to wake in a cold sweat when the memory haunted his dreams, was that he was unable to help her as she fell. He had reached out to try and grasp her hand, but he’d climbed too high and seeing her fall (a memory that he constantly saw at the slowest speed imaginable) was etched into his mind. He had not climbed a tree since. He had not climbed anything since. He absolutely could not allow himself to do so. He needed to be where Edelgard needed him, his feet firmly on the ground, beneath her, ready to catch her as a moment’s notice. He would never let her fall again.

**Author's Note:**

> It's Hubert week! I don't know how much more I'll get out for him, but this came to mind. I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> [](http://twitter.com/schupuff)


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